Cat Stevens would be my choice. I always liked his music. I thought it was an incredibly brave thing for him to leave showbiz for a life in religion. He literally turned his back on countless millions for his faith. I admire him to this day for that. I'm not sure I would've had the spiritual conviction and sheer chutzpah to do that.

Nrchy, long time no talk to. I have to go along with Hooper. Cat Stevens is one that I think if he would have continued playing would have created some really interesting stuff. I think he did with what he has done but who can tell where he would have gone. To have him drop out of the music scene due to his religious beliefx is commendable but I wish he would have keep on playing. I'll be up to GB on the weekend of the 25th, maybe see you then.

Jim Messina. Despite the current Loggins and Messina tour Messina has largely not toured except for the occasional show. Great musician, songwriter, and instrumentalist not to mention producer and engineer.

Not a single artist, but...David and David did the "Boomtown" album that places high on my list of wanting MORE. Cat Stevens for sure under retired...."expired" would better fit most of the others I can think of, and mentioned above.

Grace Slick comes to my mind. Her voice, lyrics and capacity to rock, or sing a ballad made her one of the few greats of the 60's-70's. Of course Cat Stevens, but he has released new music. It's just not the same genre of his famous past.By the way, I always enjoyed Eric Burden. Has anyone heard his last release and want to comment on it?

I'd include Peter Green and Artie Shaw;even though Green has returned recently.

And the list of those prematurely "retired"by substance abuse or accidents is WAY too long. A few favorites not mentioned yet are Gram Parsons, Clarence White, Clifford Brown,Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Cat Stevens retired for deeply held religious convictions?!? Anyone else remember he supported the murder fatwah against Salmon Rushdie which resulted in at least two translators (one Japanese and the other European) being murdered? Anyone else catch that expose about 5-6 years ago in, I think, the Wall Street Journal about his charity? The one whose workers would walk right over the bodies of starving Jewish, Christian, and Hindu children to get to the Muslims? No other charity in existence that I know of operates in this way.

Hooper, I think if you used any kind of Yiddish words like chutzpah around Stevens he'd have you thrown out.

People like George Harrison (Vaishnava Hinduism) and Richard Gere (Tibetan Buddism) chose different spirtual paths and show us all paths are not the same. Remeber, Cat Stevens resused to ever criticize the Taliban and, as I remember the article saying, supported their destruction of the 100+ ft Buddist statues. This is not a guy to admire.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but from what I've read, Cat Stevens never supported the fatwah against Rushdie. He was asked by a reporter about the fatwah, and, from what I recollect, he responded that, if the Koran were interpreted strictly, then, yes, Rushdie would die. But then he added that he did not favor strict, fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran. His major mistake was that he didn't come out and explicitly say that he was opposed to the fatwah. The reporter took his comments and twisted them so that people interpreted them to mean that he did support the fatwah. Stevens did issue a few press releases to the contrary, but by then, there was such a furor over the story that his response went ignored. And the murder of the translators had nothing to do with his comments. It was a terrorist move by fundamentalists--something that this country is all too familiar with. I can't speak to the criticism of his charity, as I never heard anything about that. I will look into it further, though. And I can't blame him for not speaking up against the Taliban. He may be principled, but he's not stupid. Ever think of what happened to those who did speak up? Let's just say, they'll never be heard from again. I have my opinion, and I do admitre the guy. He made a bold decision at the height of his fame and threw away countless millions to follow his religious convictions. I wonder how many here would do that. Would you?

Most people who have made a claim to have followed religious convictions here have been rediculed for their choice, or called narrow minded bigots. I wonder why more people don't speak up!?!

Nate, he asked specifically how many of us would give up countless millions to follow our religious convictions, which I believe is different from simply following our religious convictions and expressing them here. Even so, why battle over it? You asked a question: which musician retired too soon? Perhaps we can maintain a respectful conversation under the umbrella of our common interests of music & audio. Just a thought, not a conviction. :-)

I began to wonder how many people are still out there recording and touring, but getting no help from the various labels. I know Arlo Guthrie is in Door County on a regular basis. Who else is still touring that I don't know anything about them?!?

Boa2 makes a good point but please allow me one more indulgence. I don't know if Stevens (Yusef Islam) is a Shiite, Sunni, or Sufi (I think the other two sects have pretty much wiped out the Sufis) but why on earth embrace a religion where your own "soul mates" will kill you for disagreeing with them?

As far as not hearing from the Taliban anymore - don't tell that to the 400,000+ dead in Sudan as Muslims from Syria, Jordan, Saudia Arabia, Eygyt, and Sudan attempt to make a Taliban society there. Taliban is very active in Pakistan and Chechnya, also. Many Chechnyans (sp?) are fighting hard to establish a Taliban style government.

Ahhhh, Tomryan - Soul mates eh? - checked on all the happy times between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland lately? Plenty of other non-muslim religious zealots who seem to feel it's OK to kill and maim in the name of ___(pick one)from what I see.

On the other hand, in North America it's possible to GAIN countless millions by following religious convictions - check out Sunday morning TV.

A few years back, I saw Richie Havens in a small club. He was wonderful, such a glorious voice. He's out touring, and I wish I could see him on the 8th of October at the Eureka Springs (AK) folk festival. That is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Let's get away from politics and back to what's REALLY important: the music!! Yes, Peter Green is recording again. Actually, he has been for a while--with a band called the Splinter Group, but I'm not sure if he's still with them. I saw him in a small club in Minneapolis a few years back, and he was very good. His guitar skills are not what they were at the peak of the blues-era Fleetwood Mac, but considering what he's gone through and how long he avoided the guitar after his breakdown, his picking was still mighty impressive. He looked very nervous throughout--obviously a residual effect of his mental illness--but the crowd's fervent applause seemed to inspire him. He smiled a lot and gave a lot of "thank you's" to the crowd. Overall, it was a very nice show, and a very welcome reintroduction to a blues giant.

Christians are constantly criticized, ridiculed, and denigrated in public, on TV, in movies, newspapers, music, etc. Not one of those who do it regularly (George Carlin, Bill Maher, etc, etc.) is in any danger from the hapless people they attack. However, even Hooper believes you'd better not do the same to Islam or you get get your head cut off, shot five times and stabbed multiple times in the chest, blown up at work or in your hotel, etc.

When was the last time you heard of a Buddist or "Hindu" going crazy (by the thousands) and killing people who spoke against them? More people were killed in Muslims riots protesting what they thought was someone's desecration of their holy book in two days than have been killed in Christian riots in Ireland in the last 3 years.

How about those crazy Catholics who rioted, killed people, and burned down buildings after finding out an "artist" had pissed on their crucifix? Oh wait, that never happened...

Hmmm, same thing when another "artist" threw manure on their holy Mother. And when was the last time an Irishman tried to murder a thousand Americans because we are good friends with England? And how about all those crazy Serbs who've been committing terrorist attacks in our country since we bombed them for 6 weeks 7 years ago? Oh wait a minute - none of this has happened!

All religious and ethical philosophies are not the same and this is even more true than all speakers are not the same.

Where did I ever say that "even Hooper believes you'd better not do the same to Islam or you get get your head cut off, shot five times and stabbed multiple times in the chest, blown up at work or in your hotel, etc." You should check my posts before you make that kind of inflammatory comment. I never said anything even resembling that. In fact, I'm not even going to grace your reply with a response. I'll leave it up to the respondents to decide. After your initial post, I thought you'd know better.

"He may be principled, but he's not stupid. Ever think of what happened to those who did speak up? Let's just say, they'll never be heard from again."

Maybe I misunderstood the above statement absolving Stevens of speaking up against radical Islam (the fastest growing sect in Islam today and for the last 25 years - now that's a trend!). My statement described what happened to people who have spoken up against this monstrosity, and remember that the Taliban is not an isolated phenomenom. They are an expression of Islam embraced by tens of millions of people. Maybe Hooper is right. Stevens should pretend he's not horrified by the major thrust of his religion in the world today.

Anyway, I just picked up Peter Green's "End of the Game" which I think was his first solo release after leaving Fleetwood Mac. A good live recording of that original band is "The Boston Tea Party, Part 1".

Tomryan- how dare you. What you're saying is insensitive and politically incorrect, but man it sure is refreshing. And yes had someone bashed Christians I don't think you'd have seen much said as that is now in vogue and accepted. Tom- expect to hear from the ACLU. I'm very happy to see Peter Green is back on the radar-hadn't heard from him since his problems in the late sixties. That is great news to me.

Yes, Peter did get a wonderful tone from his guitar and amp, didn't he? If you think about, a lot of the rock performers we've loved simply created a great great tone such as Jorma Karkaroun (sp?), Jerry Garcia, etc. Much of their doodlings were not interesting in and of themselves but sounded so nice and after a while, comfortable.